The Mathematics of Plato's Academy

Ancient sources tell us of Plato's zeal for mathematics, but the problem of interpreting many of the mathematical references in his Dialogues has perplexed later commentators. Part One of this book presents several new interpretations of the ideas of ratio in early Greek mathematics, and illustrates them in detailed discussions of several texts. Part two discusses questions concerning Plato's Academy and Part Three contrasts some of the evidence from early and late antiquity and then gives an historical account of the development of continued fractions from the seventeenth century.